The Key to Starlight
by oOXperyaOo
Summary: Sometimes we wonder how it would have been another way. How our lives would have gone if fate took a different turn. If it would have changed in any way, have we opened our hearts at the right moment. A series of drabbles and random one shots, mainly focusing AkyoxZed. Suggestions are appreciated, and read and review :3!
1. Chapter 1: April Fools?

**AN: Yoo, long time no *ehrm* see. Look, I know I'm a little lazy fuck, but this last month has been a total bitch with me ;_; . Hope I will get a second chance from you lovely readers. I know TiLiD has yet to be updated, trust me I have this gigantic Writer's Block that simply TORMENTS me, and just to show you I'm not procastinating all the time, I'm starting this one shots series. May be related (I'm going to say if they are connected), another universe, and so on. Of course, this is just a starting one, if you have requests BRING 'EM ON. Will most likely be AkyoxZed one-shots, and of course I'll throw The Kinkous there. If you want something specifically, just tell me in a review and I'll do it as you wish.**

**Alright, enough babble, let's get to some fluffy and mushy romance that's still a headshot to go in TiLiD. This one is slightly AU, and please forgive any spelling or grammar OR logical mistakes, since it's extremely late and I simply can't keep my eyes open anymore.**

***Edit* : Finally read trough this, fixed the majority of the mistakes together with the summary. Happy reading and don't forget to leave your toughts in a review.**

**Disclaimer: I own nuthin'. 'Nough said.**

The gentle breeze of the wind caressed the green planes of the forest. The leaves ruffled in the air softly, the sound low and hypnotizing. The sun was in the middle of the sky, blessing the people on the ground with it's warmth and light. The sky was cloud free, it's never ending blue only painted with the dark silhouettes of some birds every now and then. The day was calm, peaceful. A total oposite from what was found in a young boy's mind.

''Valentine's day?!'' he inquired the girl in front of him, and she tilted her head at him curiously, a look of utter confusion on her face. The sight was so adorable, it made the boy's current situation more complicated.

''You've never heard of it?'' she inquired amusedly, a pretty smile making it's way on her petite and round face. She straightened her posture, as she lay in front of him with crossed legs, her hands resting on her ankles. The boy himself adopted the same position, only he kept his hands on his lap.

''Should I know about it?'' he asked again, and she shook her head amusedly, her beautiful brownish bangs moving wildly from the motion.

''Well, you should. I mean, how it comes I know of it and you don't?'' she inquired and he scowled at her. She snickered. ''Okay, okay. Don't be so upset.'' as she said this, she waved her hands in front of her body in a 'calm down' manner. The boy sighed.

''So what's so special about this day? Or what is this day about actually?'' at this, a slight blush spread on the girl's cheeks, her icy blue irises averting from his own crimson ones to the ground. There was a slight silence, before she cleared her throat.

''Well... Hmm... Valentine's day is...'' she looked toughtful at the ground for a moment. She pondered on her words carefully, before she looked at the boy again and smiled. ''It's a day that mainly celebrates love. People can display their affection openly towards loved ones on Valentine's Day, and I heard it's celebrated in certain parts of Valoran. Mother said Ionians have adopted this 'event' for themselves only a few years ago.'' the girl explained, and the boy squinted his eyes to look at her.

''So that's it? A day that mainly resolves around telling your familly what they already know? Well that's pathetic.'' he said, his tone bored. The girl's eyes widened slightly, but she furrowed her brows and when she replied she sounded slightly angry.

''That's not all about it Zed!'' she told him, and his face remained bored as usual.

''Is that so?'' he inquired. ''Well then, enlighten me. What is there more about this 'celebration of love' day, Akyo?'' Zed asked, and saw how from slightly angry, the girl's face flushed pure red. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly agape. At this Zed arched an eyebrow at her, as she seemed to have paused in thinking, even breathing.

''Akyo?'' he tried the girl's name on his tongue, and she responded, shaking her head and looking like she was back to present again.

''Oh, yeah.'' she began, slightly mumbling to herself there after. ''Well...'' she looked away, her blush red as ever, and Zed couldn't deny the fact that she was plainly adorable, all flustered like that. Right after that tought, he slapped himself mentally.

'Stop thinking like that, you fool!' he yelled in his head, before returning his attention to Akyo once more.

''You see, it's not only towards family or friends that you display your love openly...'' she began. Suddenly, the grass moving in the breeze of the win became the most interesting thing in the world. ''On Valentines Day, girls usually gift chocolates towards the boys they lo- I mean like!'' she tumbled on her own words, as she looked sheepishly at Zed. The boy was utterly confused at this point. Why was she so embarassed, was beyond his understanding.

''That's what mother told me anyway. She said that Valentine's Day is celebrated is Ionia since I was five or so, and since it became so popular, on March there's White Day, when boys gift something to the girls they like...'' she trailed off, a cute hopefull smile on her face.

''Oh...'' at this he trailed off, his eyes narrowing in tought. He was never one to admit emotions, let alone showing them. But he couldn't deny, that there, in his little, and almost unexistent in his opinion, heart that this girl was something special, and he felt for her something he had never felt to anybody else before. He cared for her deeply, her entire being making him feel comfortable and at home.

Her soft chocolate brown hair, her beautiful warm eyes, her smiles that would send his heart skipping beats, her laughter that would make butterflies gather in his stomach, her touch that would send surges of electricity trough his boy, her smell that was so sweet and comforting. Everything about her, her kind and caring personality, and how easily he warmed up to her after only a few months. She was his little piece of heaven, and he really wanted to show her that.

At that tought, he blushed unconsciously. He couldn't believe what he was thinking. When in the damned heavens had he started thinking so... so... just so sickeningly sweet. That's not how his brain was suposed to think. And yet, when he looked at her, he couldn't use any other words.

''Zed?'' Akyo asked, concern filling her voice. He looked lost in his toughts for a moment, altho his eyes remained trained on her. Her blush had fortunately died down by now, but under his observing gaze, there was still pink dusting her cheeks. But suddenly, he looked flustered all of the sudden, and his eyes were slightly wide. She couldn't help but wonder if he was alright or not.

''Eh? What?'' he asked, woken up from his toughts. He shook his head to clear his mind, and looked at Akyo's concerned face. Altho, it slowly turned into something he couldn't indetify. ''What?'' he asked again, narrowing his eyes at her lovey-dovey smilling face. Something was fishy.

''Y-you're blusing. Like a love struck boy, that is.'' she said, trying to stop her giggles from escaping, but failing horribly. Zed's eyes narrowed even more for a second, as he glared at her with his red irises, before she bursted in laughter.

She fell on her back, her hands covering her abdomen, as her laughter didn't seemed to die out any time soon. Zed kept glaring at her, altho the blush still remained on his face. He wasn't blushing. Hell no, he wasn't. It was just too warm outside, that is. There was an abnormal hot weather for this day of first of April, but that was another story.

Akyo raised back again, giggles still escaping her throat. She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes with one hand, balancing her body with the other. ''Finished laughing your ass off?'' Zed questioned, and Akyo nodded, a few other giggles escaping her throat. She looked warmly at him, a smile on her face.

''I couldn't help it. You just looked too cute like that. All angry and glary with a blush on your face.'' she explained, her smile widening at the slightly renewed color on his cheeks.

''I. Am. Not. Cute.'' he emphazised every word, and she laughed again. He? Cute? Was she blind or hit her head? He was suposed to look handsome and badass, not CUTE. Cute was for little girls and cowards. Not him.

But something struck him right then. She was making fun of him beeing cute. Might as well make her shut up in a way that is more than definately NOT cute. Since her laughing fit, she was a little further away from him than she had been before she started laughing, so Zed raised to his feet and brushed the dust off his pants, before walking towards a still giggling Akyo. She didn't heard him walking, nor did she saw him which was good.

When Akyo opened her eyes, she didn't expect to see Zed so close to her. She actually yelped, before she saw the slightly annoyed face he made. She smiled sheepishly at him and backed away a little. He was crouched in front of her, but his face was a solid fifteen maybe twenty centimeters away. Her knees were slightly close to her chest, both of her arms suporting her.

''W-What's going on?'' she questioned rather shyly, and gasped silently at the smug face he did. He smirked at her, and her heart started doing backflips and frontflips in her chest. It was that kind of smirk that showed half of his teeth and was meant to make you pass out when you see it. She still wondered how it came she didn't.

He came in a little closer, and the blush that started to subdue was back again full force. She knew if she tried to back away, she would end up flat on her back, and that wouldn't help. But not like she could move either, because the more he entered her personal space, the more her body was frozen into place.

He stopped about a half the distance that was once between their faces, and Akyo's breathing quickened even more. Her heart beat was so loud, she wouldn't be surprised if he would've heard her. Right now, she was confused if not anything. She gulped at the proximity they found themselves in, and she could almost sense his smell. The only times she had that oportunity was with the rare hugs they shared, but in rest never before have they been so close.

He cupped her chin with his right hand, and slightly brought her face upwards, so his eyes would lock with hers. Her breathing suddenly became slower at that action, and she could feel a hurricane in her stomach. But if she believed he was acting strange up until this point, boy was she wrong.

Her breathing stopped all together when his thumb touched her lips. He caressed her bottom lip softly, as his eyes concentrated on it. Akyo's own eyes were wide and she was pretty sure her entire face was entirely scarlet. There was this slight excitement in the back of her head, thinking about what he could possibly do next, it only thrilled her.

And then, he started closing the gap between them again, and Akyo closed her eyes in expectation about what's going to follow. But the kiss never happened. Instead Zed leaned in an whispered in Akyo's year.

''April fools.'' he said simply, and then simply backed away and tried to contain his laughter. Akyo's eyes were opened as she stared stupidly at the sky above her, her face emotionless. Slowly, another fierce blush covered her face as she looked angrily at Zed.

''ZED!'' She yelled, pure anger lacing her tone. Zed simply laughed his worries away, one look at her face enough to set him into a laughing fit. It looked priceless, and her reaction was priceless too.

But something clicked in his mind. She didn't pushed him away. She didn't stoped him. She must've probably realised what he 'suposedly' intended to do, and she let him do it. His laughter slowly subsided, as he looked at the embarassed fuming girl with a questioning gaze. Could it possibly mean that... she liked him back?

No, that's not what it was. She couldn't like him back. He was filled with flaws, and she was simply good. Almost perfect. How could she ever fall for him.

''Akyo...'' he began, as the said girl raised from her position on the ground and looked embarassed at it. When he called her name she shot him a pissed glare and huffed.

''What?'' she questioned, and Zed sighed as he approached her.

''It was a joke, gee. Don't be so angry.'' he said, the annoyance that was suposed to be in his tone not there. He was worried, he had to admit. Worried that he might have gone too far.

''A joke?'' she inquired, her eyes incredulous. ''Maybe it was a joke for you, but not for me!'' she said her tone furious.

''And why is that?'' Zed asked, his tone just as annoyed as hers.

''Because...'' at this, she lost her words. Her eyes widened slightly, before she looked at the ground, her eyelids covering half of her beautiful icy eyes. ''You don't get it?'' she questioned, and he felt the sadness in her voice. It couldn't be...

He didn't answer and let her continue. ''You still don't get it? Well, I can't actually blame you. Who would feel that way towards a cry baby like me?'' she asked, more for herself as she brought her hand to her face, wiping tears from her eyes.

No, this was wrong. It was impulsive, and he did it without thinking. But he cupped her face and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She simply didn't looked like herself when she was crying. It broke his heart when she did.

His right hand stayed on her cheek, as she covered it with her own. She squeezed it lightly, before she looked at him in the eyes. Taking one deep breath, she gathered all of the courage she could find and let the sentence tumble out of her mouth.

And there was silence. None dared to say anything after what she had just confessed, and Zed felt a wave of emotions come over him. Confusion, shock, relief, happiness. There were so many questions in his head, but his brain stopped functioning for a second. She looked sadly at him, and removed the hand from her cheek. She started turning away, but he was having none of it. April fools as it may have been, he wasn't going to joke around this time. Not after she had put her heart on the table for him.

Akyo was prepared to turn away from all this mess, and hope it wasn't going to affect their friendship too much. Just about as she was ready to leave, he caught her wrist and yanked her back at him, hugging her closely. Even tho she was still slightly confused by the situation, she nestled her head on his chest and listened to the steady beating of his heart.

But then, he slightly pulled away, and made her look at him again. There was a glint of hope in her eyes that he wasn't going to disapoint this time. He smiled at her, a typical smile of his. Nothing too fancy. Simply Zed. She blushed, as her heart fluttered, but soon it started going on a race as he kissed her.

At this point, she was too shocked to do anything, but she couldn't deny that the warm sensation she felt when his lips were on her own was nice. Really nice. Her wide eyes closed, as she savored the moment, not wanting to lose any more seconds of this.

Who would have really believed the day would end up like this?

**AN: Soooooo yeah. Been dying to write some cute lil fluff. If you liked it, leave a review where you can also say if you have any suggestions. One shots like these are less brain and time consuming, so I'll be able to do them a lot more often. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning TiLiD either, and if I have any new readers, it would be better if you would check out my other two fanfictions, to understand this story properly.**

**Either way, 'nough is 'nough. It's almost 1 AM in the morning, but I said I'm posting this tonight so yeah. Have a nice time readers :3.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Institute of Education?

The Key to Starlight (High School AU)

**AN : Heyooo~! I'm back to keep ya busy while I'm proof reading TiLiD. Yep, ya heard me. THAT STORY IS FINALLY GETTING UPDATED. So sorry for having to wait for TOO long. I've been dreaming about this AU for far too long to not let it happen. It's gonna be multi chaptered, but idk how long. However, things will progress a lot more differently here, so expect a lot more romance around the edges of this story since I promised whatever I post here WILL HAVE ROMANCE, and I'll just have to give it tons of humor, since I really don't have to keep it serious and dark themed all the time. Remember, I AM taking requests from you guys. If you're dying to see something, just LET IT GO and tell me. I'll try and give my best shot in writting your desires. Did I mention the rating might go up to M *innocent face*? While I'm still practicing my *AHEM* M-rated ficlets, that does not mean you can't help me. Long story short, no matter what kind of suggestion you have, I'm listening.**

**We'll talk about this lateh. Now let's proceed!**

**Disclaimer : Braum is the best freakin Freljord champ I've ever seen, too bad I don't own him, like whatever you find from LoL in this story.**

Soft rythmical and padded footsteps resounded against the concrete road. The owner of those steps moved swiftly, abeit there was a slight hesitation in her actions. Her brown leather boots collided against the road with a soft thump at every step, her gaze never leaving the building which represented her final destination.

She took a turn, as the distance between her and the respective building became shorter and shorter. She came to a halt a good distance away from it's stairs, the silence surrounding it betraying the actual buzz of a new day of Monday.

The girl was average in height, the most particular asset of hers a pair of observing, soft, icy blue irises. Her brown hair was long, two short bangs framing her petite face, while the rest was in a high pony tail and flowed gracefully down her back in waves, almost passing her bottom. She donned a simple black undershirt, over which was a blue blouse that covered her left shoulder while exposing the other. Flowing gracefully from under the blue blouse, there was a simple white skirt that was halfway the distance of her thigh, a pair of white shorties carefully hidden under it. On her left shoulder, a simple, black backpack with accents of white and blue could be seen laying idly, as she kept her left hand on the respective shoulder strap.

She sighed silently, as her eyes observed the image before her. The building was tall, probably up to three stories. The main entrance consisted of a pair of big glass double doors, a staircase leading up to them, railings on each side of the staircase. Covering the main entrance, there was a small rooftop coming out of the structure, a plaque on the main side of it, two flags on the each other left side, moving softly in the idle breeze.

She couldn't help but arch an eyebrow when her eyes landed upon the plaque. Her icy eyes read along the lines of it, the anxiety that was previously present on her slowly starting to turn into a small monster inside her head.

_Welcome to The Insitute of War! _the plaque read, and she could not help but wonder, how it come they would choose such a name for a highschool. Truthfully, the highschool itself was surnamed 'The League of Legends' , mostly because the kids who learned at this highschool were truly legends in knowledge even beyond the boundaries of Valoran, the country it found itself in.

She slowly started climbing the stairs, one hand coming to rest on one of the railings. She slowly approached the doors, as one hand came to push them open. Entering the building, she found it even more quiet than it had been on the outside. Right on the oposite wall she could see a glass case, filled with throphies and medals from all the competitions the students took part in. And there were many, many, **many, **golden ones.

As she approached the glass case, she observed two hallways stretching on either side of her. There were also numerous doors on each side of it, but as she took the hallway from one end to the other, she couldn't see the principal's office anywhere.

There were parts of the hallways that were lined with lockers, and there were kinda many for that matter. Caught in a difficult situation, she cursed her sister for the unknownth time in her mind for not coming with her.

_''Why should I come with you?'' the taller and older girl asked, an amused expression all over her face. She was washing the dishes when her younger sister interrupted with what she considered a puerile request._

_''Because,'' the younger girl began, the fear of who knows what slightly obvious on her face and voice. ''I barely know my way around the town, I'll be totally lost in the highschool.'' she explained, and huffed in frustration at her sister's disinterested face. ''Look, you just have to come with me and once I meet the principal you can go home. But please Zayenn!'' the younger girl begged, and the older sibling only sighed while shaking it's head amusedly._

_''I can't come with you Akyo. I have plenty of things I have to do on my own today.'' she returned to her previous action of washing the dishes as she spoke. ''And you're sixteen for the love of God. I'm sure you can handle yourself in a highschool.''_

'Well, thanks for nothing.' she thought bitterly, as her aimless wondering across the hallways of the building didn't lead anywhere. She continued walking down the road in front of her, and she intended to return to the main entrance when the shrill sound of a ringing bell emanated in the air.

''Oh no.'' she muttered for herself, as she could see waves of students flowing from each class, all of them focused on their own problems. They were very considerate as to not bump into her, as Akyo tried to move trough the now slightly crowded hallways.

She couldn't deny, she was kinda surprised. Every student looked unique in his own way, and she meant it literally. She saw one of them having some sort strange blueish aura covering his eyes, while one of the girls had what seemed like nine tails of a fox. Indeed, things were kinda strange in this highschool, but they weren't above the average yet.

''LOOK OUT!'' a high pitched voice yelled somewhere in front of Akyo, and if it was anybody else, whatever was moving at an alarming high speed would've collided with them pretty badly. However, given her actual childhood and everything she's been trough until the present, Akyo developed superhuman reactions.

Side stepping at the last moment, she managed to avoid what seemed to be a little boy, moving almost way too fast for a normal human. She didn't caught much of his appearance, mostly because of the way he was moving, and secondly, trough some unknown means when she tried putting her foot back on her ground to regain balance, she tipped on her other foot and she found herself falling backwards.

Well, isn't _that _a way to start your first day in highschool?

However, she never touched the floor. A pair of arms caught her from behind, stopping her body from colliding painfully with the cold, honed floor. With a soft huff of air coming from her mouth, Akyo took one second to regain her senses before remembering where she was. She swiftly raised back to her feet, pink dust covering her cheeks in embarassment. She turned on her heels and looked at her saviour.

''I'm extremely sorry.'' she apologized genuinely as she took a good look at the boy who caught her. He merely shrugged at her apology. He had messy brownish bangs which covered his eyes slightly. There was bored stare coming from his red irises, his face set in a indiferent mask. He had a simple black shirt, with red accents here and there and dark blue, over the knee long trousers with a pair of simple sneakers.

If there was something that caught her own eye, there was his own pair of crimson orbs. While his face looked bored and uninterested, his gaze was observing, looking at her from head to toe. She let another trail of pink dust her cheeks unconsciously at this thought, and she averted her gaze, afraid she might've been staring at him for far too long.

''Haven't seen you around. You must be new here.'' he began, and there was that something again about his voice, but she dismissed whatever thought she had about it and looked at him in the eyes. Despite all the embarassment she felt, she tried to crack a smile.

''Uh, yes I am new. I was actually looking for the principal's office when the bell went off...'' she let the sentence hang in the air for a moment, before she spoke again. ''Mind if you help me find it? If it's not too much of a trouble.'' she explained quickly, and saw the amused stare he gaze her, a slight smirk on his seemingly always indiferent features.

''Follow me.'' he commanded simply and she obeyed, carefully to not step on anything and try to avoid anything that came at her. The highschool was now filled with life, a total opposite from the almost stranded building she found herself in earlier.

She kept walking next to the boy she'd just met, and she couldn't help the slight quick of her lips when she glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. He seemed like a nice guy, after he prevented her from hitting the floor like an idiot and now showing her the way to the principal's office. He tried hiding his emotions under a mask, but she could see right trough it, she always had a gift for reading people easily. While he looked cool and unaffected on the exterior, he was a really warm heart on the interior.

''Here it is.'' he spoke again, waking her up from her daze. Slightly shaking her head, she looked at the plaque over the door. Indeed, in bold, golden letters 'Principal's Office, Vessaria Kolminye' was written upon it, and she made small sound of approval.

''Thanks a lot.'' she told him, another small and warm smile on her face. He dismissed it with a slight roll of his eyes. She hesitated slightly in entering the office, and there was an awkward silence surrounding them.

''Well...'' he began, sensing the discomfort as well, ''see you around, I guess.'' she cringed inwardly at that. So he was also awkward with people. Well, there was something they had in common.

She nodded, as she put her hand on the doorknob and smiled at him one more time before entering the office. The room was medium in size, a big mahogany desk somewhere in the front. Two chairs made out of the same material were in front of it, a big, round, black and white rug covering most of the floor in the middle. There were cabinets around the walls, and three big windows covered the front wall, showering the room with sunlight.

Sitting behind the desk there was a middle aged woman, dressed in a formal suit. She still looked pretty young, a slight touch of the late thirties she was in on her face. Her skin was slightly darker in color, blue orbs focused solely on the paper she was curently scribbling on. Her hair was mostly pulled back, a few strands of black hair coming out of it's hold.

Akyo simply stood at the door, the principal too busy in her scribbling to notice her probably. She let her eyes wander across the room when she heard the elder woman clear her throat and speak.

''Miss you can come and have a seat.'' she said simply, as her scribbling continued. Akyo started walking towards her, removing her backpack from her shoulder and setting it to the foot of the chair she sat on, as she waited for the principal to speak again.

It wasn't long before she did. ''So you are the girl who transfered here, am I right?'' she questioned and Akyo nodded firmly. The principal looked trough some of the drawers of her desk and pulled some sort of case file, which she opened and started reading trough it, but Akyo couldn't see anything. ''It is stated by your previous school principal that you present amazing physical abilities.'' the principal noted with an arched eyebrow in question, while Akyo gulped and nodded. The elder woman returned her attention towards the case file. ''You are very good in hand to hand combat and also present knowledge in martial arts. A karate club perhaps?'' the principal inquired and Akyo shifted uneasy in her chair.

''Y-Yes. I was part of my school's karate club, until I was incapacitated and couldn't fight anymore. I was offered the chance to start competitve play again, but due to my injury I had to settle down for the previous year.'' Akyo explained, and hoped the principal wont pry any further. That part of her past was really ugly and dark, and she really didn't wanted to think about it anymore.

As if she sensed her great discomfort, Vessaria said no more and closed the case file. Stashing it away in one of her drawers, she picked two sheets of paper from another. She started scribbling down on one of them, and after she signed it, she handed both of them to Akyo.

''Miss Akyo,'' she began, her eyes a little bit too cold for Akyo's comfort, ''for today since you have no books, you will show this piece of paper to all of your teachers to let them know and pardon you only for today. Tomorrow, you shall be considered as any other student here in the Institute.'' she took a small pause before continuing. ''You can show the same piece of paper to the librarian, who will give you all the books you need. Secondly, you'll head now for the secretary which is opposite and ask for your schedule. You'll show her this to let her know.'' Vessaria explained, holding up the second piece of paper.

Akyo nodded as she stretched and picked both of the papers. Keeping them securely in her hands, she raised from her seat and picked up her backpack. Throwing it casually over her left shoulder, she turned around and headed for the door. The principal returned to her scribbling without anything as much as a glance and Akyo left her room.

She headed for the secretary, the door opposite just as Principal Kolmynie said. Knocking softly on the door, she grabbed the knob and twisted. The office was slightly smaller, but in the same fashion the other one was. The woman on the desk looked older than the principal, a pair of glasses on top of her nose. Her head snapped up when she heard the door open and let a small smile on her face when she saw who entered.

''With what can I help you?'' the secretary asked politely, as Akyo handed her the paper. She narrowed her eyes at it for a while, before she turned her attention back to the computer she was previously typing at and started typing with an amazing speed again. Not long after, the printer started making noise, and a sheet of paper with a chart on it came out. The secretary raised from her seat and grabbed the paper, handing it to Akyo.

''Here it is your schedule. Your class is A2, your homeroom teacher Mrs. Starcall.'' she paused and glanced at a clock on a nearby wall. ''Lunch period is coming soon, so you will have plenty of time to reach your classroom. I do believe Mrs. Starcall had already been informed of a new student joining her class, so you don't need to worry. You can find your classroom on the first floor, not far from the library.'' the secretary explained, the same slight smile on her face all the time. Akyo looked up at the older woman and smilled in agreement. Taking her schedule, she turned on her heels and headed for the door.

True to her word, the bell rang not long after Akyo left the secretary. Right now, she planned on getting to library, but she had to go trough the main interior yard to do so. It was pretty nice outside, with benches here and there for students to relax. She made it halfway before she bumped into someone that wasn't there before.

''I'm sorry.'' she apologized, as she tried to pass the person, but it moved in front of her. Her eyes were on the floor, but she raised them and looked at the respective. He was a lot taller than her, and had the start of a really strange moustache on his face. His hair was weirdly done too, but what disturbed her the most was his smile.

''Hey there baby. Haven't seen you around.'' he said smugly, and Akyo cringed inwardly. She kept her face blank, altho she was quite sure it slightly betrayed her disgust. With her eyes fixed on the person in front, she tried backing out, not wanting to cause any scene. However, she bumped into somebody again, as she turned around and saw another boy, glaring down at her. He had short brown hair and a scowl was present on his face, and he seemed very physically evolved for his age.

''Aw, come on. Don't be like that.'' the boy with the moustache began, as he grabbed Akyo rather roughly by her arm. She cringed, while balling her fists. As things progressed, her plans about not causing any scene were beeing thrown out the window. ''Draaaaaven just wants to get a better look at your face, that's all.''

''Too bad I don't want to look at yours.'' Akyo replied sharply, and she saw the scowl that appeared on the boy's face. Ripping her arm free from his grip, she made a move to pass him, but he grabbed her again, and this time he grabbed a lot lower than any boy had ever been allowed to.

Her temper flared, her eyes narrowing in dangerous slits. This boy was sailing dangerous waters right now. Turning around sharply she slapped him across the face, a mutual gasp beeing released from all the bystanders who gathered to watch the commotion.

Draven's face turned into an angry scowl, as he moved in to land a punch. Despite the situation, Akyo smirked to herself. It had been a while since she had any hand to hand combat, might as well try that now.

~(o-o)~

Zed fumbled trough his locker, looking for his books for the next period. Even if it was lunch time, he wanted to get his things now, since next they had astrology class with their homeroom teacher, and the faster he got to the class, the better. Once he finally gathered his belongings, he closed his locker and moved towards the main interior yard.

The first thing that caught his eye was a small gathering of students somewhere in the middle of the yard. They were just standing by, and he could clearly see what was actually going on. He saw the most annoying kid in the entire school, Draven together with his brother Darius. There was somebody else there, but he could not quite make out it's figure.

His eyes widened slightly when he caught sight of a familiar outfit, and very, very angry icy irises. He snorted when the new girl - that he helped find Kolmynie's office, that seemed so nice, almost too nice, and almost fell backwards because Kennen was running like a tornado trough the corridors again - slapped Draven shamelessly across the face.

He saw the idiot move in to hit her, and he took one step forward, altho he didn't actually knew why. Maybe it was because she seemed too nice to get herself in troubles with those two idiots, maybe it was just an impulse, but she didn't needed his help.

She raised her hands in front of her in a defensive stance and dodged Draven's fist with ease. Instead, as he moved past her, she raised her leg and kicked him hard in his own, making Draven fall to the ground with a cry of pain.

''What the hell?!'' he heard him yell, as he tried to stand but failed, and fell to the ground once more grabbing his injuried limb. Darius simply spectated from a slight distance how his brother was getting his ass kicked by a girl shorter than him.

She let her arms down and looked at Draven. The latter glared up at her while he was still grabbing his leg. She turned towards her fallen backpack to pick it up and leave, but Draven was having none of it. He suddenly raised to his feet and runned after her, fist ready in the air.

Zed was sure that this one she couldn't dodge as easily as the other, but she proven him wrong once more. He couldn't help the surprise off his face when he saw everything transpire. Draven was running after her, but just as his fist was about to connect with her head she suddenly sidestepped and dodged it. In the same instant, she turned around and grabbed Draven by the back of his shirt, while she put one of her legs in front of his own. Pushing on his back, and moving his legs from below his body, the girl easily spinned Draven midair, without as much as breaking a sweat.

Everything happened extremely fast, but after the dust settled one thing was sure. Draven laid on his abdomen, a groan of extreme pain leaving his mouth. Darius sighed and went to check on his brother, while the new girl shook invisible dust off her hands and skirt. She went after her backpack and picked it up and left, not even paying attention to the all shocked faces she left behind.

Zed's shocked expression slowly melted into one of intriguedness. As he watched the girl take her leave, he couldn't help the quirck of his eyebrow and the slight smirk on his face. Maybe she wasn't such a fragile, little flower after all. She was sure to be entertaining, since there weren't many in the highschool that could fight and react like that.

Glancing at one of the clocks nearby, he decided that there was plenty of time for lunch, so his next destination was the cafeteria. While his feet moved him towards it, his mind was mostly occupied by the image of the new girl. How short and fragile she looked, and just how much warmth those simple smiles of her radiated. And then, he thought just how simply she fought off Draven, with such swiftness and grace. He knew only one other girl with skills like this, they had been friends since they were kids, so if the two girls actually knew eachother, he should've atleast heard about her. But she was a total stranger, he was betting it on his lunch money.

He concluded that it wasn't harmful to question his friend about this. After all, it might intrigue her as well, and not only her, but his brother none the less.

When he woke up from his thoughts, he found himself in front of the cafeteria. It was filled with students, and he was particulary looking for a familiar white head. His eyes landed on a boy his age, with short messy white hair and deep crimson eyes just like his. His outfit consisted of the same pieces Zed had, only his shirt was white with bluish accents and his pants a much more light color of blue. Currently, his eyes were focused on a book, his tray with food not far from his reach.

Casually making his way towards the boy, he plopped next to him, and saw how he didn't even bothered to look at him. While for many that would seem rude, he knew his brother was very aware of his presence, only he was actually waiting for Zed to state his thoughts.

Zed looked around the cafeteria for somebody, and when his eyes failed to find her, he turned to his brother.

''Akali is usually here when I arrive. Any idea where she might be?'' he questioned and saw how his brother paused in his reading, actually raising his eyes from the book and narrowing them slightly.

''I did saw her leave the class, but I've been here during most of the period, and didn't caught sight of her.'' the boy explained, and Zed narrowed his own eyes. As if on cue, he heard a squeaky loud voice he was very familiar with from his right. Turning his head, he saw the tall silhouette of a black haired girl looking down at a boy half her height. She had emerald green eyes, with a simple shirt to match. She had simple, blue denims and white sneakers. Her hair was caught in a pony tail, one bang falling gracefully on the left side of her face, with a small strand of hair on the other side. She was looking amusedly at the boy half her height, with creamy like, short hair and blue eyes. He had a dark purple hoodie and knee short blue pants with purple sneakers. He seemed extremely excited by something, which only raised the girl's amusement.

''Hey guys.'' the girl greeted, smilling at each one of the two. She seated herself opposite of the white haired boy, while the shorter one sat himself opposite of Zed.

''What took you so long? You're not one to be late, Akali.'' Zed questioned teasingly, the girl smilling in response.

''I was on my usual way here when Kennen and I met. He was very adamant about something, but he refused to tell me what about until we reached the two of you.'' she explained, as she eyed the shorter boy. His smile grew in response.

''I guess you've heard about the new girl already.'' he began, and the white haired boy actually seemed surprised.

''A new student?'' he inquired and Kennen nodded fastly.

''Yup. She's a beast, you should've seen her Shen!'' Kennen began, his voice filled with excitement. ''I wasn't actually there when it happened but Teemo was. He told me she spinned Draven mid air and she didn't even seemed fazed about it, considering she's a shortie.'' he explained and Zed smirked.

''I saw that one. Draven really wanted a beating.'' Zed noted, and three pairs of eyes turned on him. Kennen looked shocked.

''You saw her?!'' his voice reached dangerous heights and Zed nodded, abeit he cringed slightly. ''I heard she's hella cute too! Is it true?'' Kennen questioned fastly, and Zed arched an eyebrow.

''Does it actually matter? She seems like a chill girl. I caught her from falling after she avoided _you _when you were running like a maniac trough the corridors again.'' Zed told Kennen and the boy's face filled with disbelief.

''I almost bumped into her today?'' he mumbled to himself, looking extremely worried about it. Zed chuckled silently, observing amusedly the younger boy's behaviour. It seemed he already developed a passion for somebody he had yet to meet.

''I was actually going to ask you tho,'' Zed began, turning towards Akali. ''she is very skilled in hand to hand combat. Swift, precise, fast and gracefull. Her fighting style kinda reminded me of yours.'' he began, and the girl's face turned into confusion.

''Well... I don't know. From what I've heard from Irelia and the others, she does not seem familiar in appearance. Have you managed to catch her name?'' she asked and Zed looked thoughtful for a second.

After that he sighed. ''No. I left immediately after I showed her where the principal's office is.'' he explained before Shen, who stayed mostly quiet during the conversation, made a notice it caught eveybody's eyes.

''Well that's a new face. Is that the girl Zed?'' he asked while pointing with his head towards that direction. Truthfully, it was her as she kept her eyes trained on a piece of paper while smartly dodging people coming her way, before she diappeared into a mass of students once more.

''Yep, that's her.'' he finally said, while he observed everybody's faces. Shen looked unimpressed as always, altho he looked thoughtfull, and Akali was the same with small confused features here and there. Kennen was still and his eyes were wide with a slightly opened mouth. He seemed as if he had seen God on earth, and it only made Zed's amusement go higher. He then remembered he had some books to borrow from the library, the chemistry extremely hard on his head. He swiftly raised from the table and gathered his belongings before turning on his heels and leaving.

''Where are you going?'' Akali questioned, altho her attention was on the still gaping Kennen. Zed chuckled.

''To the library. I need to get some books for chemistry, or else Mr Singed ain't gonna pass me this semester. See ya.'' he said, before ruffling Kennen's hair slightly and leaving for good.

~(o-o)~

Akyo kept her eyes trained on the paper before her. She raised them from time to time to make sure she wasn't bumping into anybody, before they returned to it once more. She was almost out of the cafeteria when literally a wall made out of three girls stepped in front of her.

The one that standed out the most was blonde, and her clothing was slightly revealing. Her hair was curled and in bounced on her shoulders lightly. She had big deep blue eyes with very petite and feminine features, altho her face seemed one of disgust. She glared down at Akyo, who stood shorter than her with a few centimeters.

''So you're the new girl huh?'' she spoke, her voice very feminine, altho it held a lot of pride. Akyo merely glanced at her and blinked a few times before answering.

''Yes...'' she trailed off and saw the other girl scoff before she started walking around Akyo. She inspected everything from her clothes to her hair while looking unimpressed all the time.

''I still don't see how a weakling like you could pull off such a trick. And not to mention the weak taste in fashion.'' she said as she slapped Akyo's skirt. The latter had her eyes narrowed in dangerous slits again, her hands painfully grasping the shoulder strap to keep herself from demonstrating it to this girl. ''But let me set this straight.'' she said simply while she approached Akyo and looked at her in the eyes. ''I don't like having my friends tossed around, so you better keep those hands at home next time.'' she explained, as she made a move to pass Akyo, her two friends in toll.

''Or what? You're going to tell me I dress like a grandma for the rest of my time here?'' Akyo questioned sarcastically and loud, before moving out of the cafeteria swiftly. This type of kids she detested the most in schools, and she really didn't wanted to break that girl's bones from day one.

It wasn't long before she reached her desired destination, the library. Opening it's doors, she saw just how big it was, with shelves lined with books almost everywhere, tables with chairs for students also present. The main desk seemed empty, and she made a move towards the room to look for the librarian.

''May I help you?'' a deep cool voice came from behind and she turned around and craned her neck up. She knew she was short, but this person was ridiculously tall. He had icy blue eyes just like hers, but his eyes were completely that color. Short dark hair was on his head, a pair of glasses on his nose. His features were calm and unaffected, and for some strange reason Akyo felt like she was looking at a dog.

''Uhm, yes.'' she began, slightly intimidated by the librarian's height. She stretched him the piece of paper, as he picked it up and looked at it. He returned his attention towards Akyo, as she gulped slightly uneasy.

''The books you'll need for today are there.'' he pointed towards a few shelves in the library. ''Once you have all of them, pass trough here and let me know. You can return at the end of the day for the rest of them.'' he said simply, his tone just a deep and cool. Akyo nodded, turning around and walking towards the direction the librarian pointed her.

She found herself surrounded by books of various sizes, colors and ages. She looked on her schedule and started picking up books for the subjects she had for the rest of the day. The last book she had to pick was for the third period, chemistry. Looking around the shelves, her eyes landed upon the desired book as she started walking towards it.

When she reached up to it, she realised with a frustated face that the shelf was too high for her to reach. She even tried jumping a few times in order to get to it without any progress.

''Are you for real?'' she almost growled, as she tried jumping once more. There was another hand that grabbed the book she wanted, as her eyes followed it. She observed the respective person handed the book to her, while she could hear chuckles coming from it.

Picking up the book, she looked at the stranger and gasped silently. The boy that helped her find the principal's office today was looking at her with the most amused expression on his face.

''Thanks.'' she said as she ripped the book from the boy's outstretched hand and tucked it in her backpack. Her face was in a frown, altho she felt embarassed. He must've seen her lame attempts on getting the book, and that was why he was so amused right now. She heard him sigh amusedly.

''You know this is your own fault.'' he noted with the same amused tone in his voice. Akyo pouted.

''Well thanks for coming to my rescue, oh you brave knight.'' she said sarcastically, altho there was a smirk on her face. He returned it.

''Why thank you.'' he said simply and she rolled her eyes, before throwing her backpack on her shoulder. ''I'm Zed by the way.''

''Akyo.'' she said while smilling at him. ''Nice to actually meet you.''

''So, what did Draven do to deserve a smooching session with the ground?'' he questioned and saw the girl giggle. He couldn't deny Kennen's statement. She was kind of cute. Kind of.

''He failed picking up the hint that I had better things to do than waste my time on him.'' she explained, her eyes shinning slightly. ''Altho, I did show him some mercy. For example, I could've broken his leg, but I didn't.'' she said proudly, while Zed arched an eyebrow.

''Wow, very considerate of you.'' he remarked and she dead panned at him. She opened her mouth to throw him a retort, but there was the sound of a bell ringing in the distance.

Zed cursed under his breath and turned around. As much as he would've liked to continue their chit chat he had to go now.

''Well, next time you need to get some books you know who to call.'' he throwed her a smirk before turning around and leaving. She scoffed amusedly at his last reply, as she made her way towards the main desk. She showed all the books to the librarian as he nodded at her, before she exited the library and went for her first class.

~(o-o)~

Zed entered the class, and saw that the majority of students had already gathered up. He observed the unocuppied double bench that represented his seat and started walking towards it. On the desk, he found a neatly folded piece of paper as he eyed it curiously before he set his books on the desk and picked it up. Positioning himself on the chair he opened the piece of paper and observed the shapely drawn heart together with some very cursive text he didn't even bothered to read.

Turning his head around, his crimson eyes met deep blue ones, framed by blonde curls. The girl winked and waved at him, throwing him a seductive smile, before he turned around and crinkled his nose in disgust. Swiftly turning the paper into a miniature ball, he threw it in his desk and waited for Mrs Starcall to arrive.

It wasn't long before she did, her long white hair caught with multiple elastic bands flowing gently behind her. Her amber eyes were framed by glasses, as she went for the teacher's desk and sat her belongings.

''Very well children. Please sit down, I have a few annoucements to make.'' she said, her tone warm and kind, as everybody listened to her. Raising from her seat she walked in front of the class and looked at the kids.

''As you may very well know already, the usual prom of Fall is approaching.'' she began, and there were some excited sounds coming from the students. ''which means that for the follwoing month you'll have to be angels in order to partake. There are preparations beeing done right now as we speak and I do wish for everybody present to take part.'' she finished as she looked thoughtfull for a moment before continuing. ''If you haven't already heard, there is a new student that had transfered here.'' as if on cue, there was a knock on the door.

''Come in.'' Mrs Starcall said, as all eyes turned towards the door. It slowly opened and it revealed nobody else than Akyo looking curiously trough the class and then at the smilling teacher. ''Children, this is Akyo Miyazaki, and she will be your coleague for the following years.'' Mrs Starcall finished, and there were some gasps and whispers from around the room.

Her slightly fearful eyes looked around the room until she met Zed's. He really felt happy and excited to have her in his classroom, and he could tell she felt the same way. Mrs Starcall told her to take a seat and she turned directly towards the unused seat next to Zed. Sitting herself down and taking her backpack off, she looked at Zed and smiled brightly at him, a slight quirck of the corner of his lips as his response.

She took out her books and payed attention to what the teacher was saying, but in the same time she felt distracted by the fact she and Zed were sharing the same classes. She was so distracted that she didn't felt the pair of angered blue eyes boring holes into her skull.

**AN: TADAAA. What'ya think :D? I for one think that this has a tons of potential, mainly because here I can make them fall for one another a lot more easily and a lot more possibly than it had been in my other two stories. If you guys like it, I'll wirte another chapter. Honestly this is the longest I've wirtten so far XD. I dunno if it's going to be this long, but I really have shaped where this story is going, and Zayenn isn't the bad guy anymore! Yay~. As I said above, I am asking for you guys to GIMMIE requests XD. Honestly, just let your mind wonder and tell me what you would like to see take action. I would love to make you guys smile :D. By the way, the blonde chick ain't a champion in the League. She's just... Random.**

**Alright, I'm going back to finishing TiLiD, I'm uploading TONIGHT. The chapter in my opinion is kinda meh~, but right now I'm in a dead point in the plot, and I'm preparing a much larger arc following the ''SnowDown'' one. Hell yeah, random misteltoes and Lady Christmas costumes on their way. It's time for some fanservice for both you Akyo fanboys and Zed.**

**LET'S REPLY TO SOME REVIEWS :3**

**nnprovip: A new face, I'm glad you liked it :3. I'll give you more :D.**

**FrakinAssasin: I'm so glad you enjoyed that mushy little... thing I wrote. I just wanted to make my readers smile xD! I fyou haven't checked out, TiLiD should be up by the time you read this, so don't forget about it :D**

**Nadral: *Laughs* . Thanks for the welcome back. PS : I know I have a phone name FFS XD.**

**Guest: Uhm... You okay dear?**

**littleflower54276408: That image was so adorable I laughed out loud at 2 AM in the morning. I didn't woke up my parents. Gosh that was close xD.  
The point was for you guys to like it and enter fangirl/boy mode and squeal so hard XD. This will happen in TiLiD, be sure. The question remains to be when XD. Idk about that Irelia nerf tho. Morello knows better x3.  
At that time Zed was like go with the flow. He knew Akyo is introvert and awkward with her own emotions and really loves her personal space. Use those three and whad'ja get? A Scarlet ( Johanson XD ) Akyo.**

**Spazway2: *gets on knees and bows* I'm so, so, sorry.**

**Balthamel: I've kinda passed my WB thansk a lot for the worry :3. Don't forget, if you have any ideas, TELL MEH :3.**

**Alright, it's clear that I'm tired, so I wish you guys a very nice day/night and please don't forget to review, fav, follow, etc! **


	3. Chapter 3: What's lost and found

The Key to Starlight chapter 3

**What's lost and damaged and what's found and repaired**

**This would make more sense if you have already read TiLiD. It's an alternate situation from the one that had already taken place in the plot.**

Discussing rules with the High Council was probably the worst and the most boring thing in the entire universe. Zed would have willingly spent a day in The Kinkou than having Vessaria - pardon, High Summoner Vessaria as she told him multiple - painfully multiple - times to call her that way and remind him at every five minutes that it's completely forbidden to attempt to kill or severely hurt any champion of the League. But he really wasn't hurrying up to the order either. It was dark, the moon already on the sky, hence the darkness of the forest made it nice for a walk. Returning too soon would mean he'd have Zayenn on his head again.

She was a very competent fighter, and a good leader. She guided and trained the students with an iron fist, when Zed wasn't able to. She had always tried to help him and please him in almost every matter. He could've cared less. He knew in essence who she actually was, so the sweet smiles and personality she put up whenever near him, weren't having their desired effect.

However, there was something surrounding this Yukine girl, something he could not describe. He couldn't quite place a finger on it, but it felt familiar. The way she speaks to him like they know each other for a lifetime, and he finds it extremely comfortable that way. It's weird, but he feels like he can trust this girl. Not completely and not with big things, but there is this slight trust he has in her. She doesn't treat him like her master. She treats him more like her friend. And Zed had no idea if this should be bad or good.

He was so deep in thought he had not heard the slight footsteps behind him. They were soft and never meant to be heard, but when one made the mistake to step on a twig, the Shadow Master stopped. He didn't turn his head, but looked around him. He saw the shiny blades of what it seemed like ten or eleven ninjas, and they were just in his field of vision. They were dark clothed, but they were different from the ones in The Shadow Order. He couldn't help the low growl that escaped his throat.

''Kinkous...'' he whispered dangerously, as the movements became louder in the darkness.

One unsheathed his blade, and jumped from the darkness, aiming for Zed's back. Instead he just hit a black mass, and soon a cold blade slashed his throat, rendering him lifeless. Another came from Zed's right, as he grabbed the ninja by his weapon, and pulled it. The result was the ninja's abdomen being pierced by Zed's stretched blade. Throwing away the ninja's weapon and shoving his body aside, Zed was aware that they were many than he could count.

Another two tried to make a dash for him, but he jumped and threw two shurikens that got both of them in the middle of their heads, dropping down on the ground lifeless. When he landed on the ground in a crouched position, he dodged one blade aimed for his head and stretched one foot out to trip the other's balance. Soon, the ninja felt the cold steel of the blade tearing his neck apart, as he dropped on the ground.

Zed stopped as three ninjas pointed their blades at him. They had him surrounded and aside those, another four were starting to slowly approach them. He knew he wasn't going to be able to take all of them down and escape unharmed. He had to think of a way to trick them. But he was sure they had learnt to dodge shadows, and they got him in some sort of another clearing in the forest. The nearest shadow was one of a tree, and it was a solid fifteen meters away. He couldn't win, considering he was also low on energy.

But it seemed his lucky stars were on a roll tonight, as a muffled gasp was heard from those four ninjas who were approaching them. Now there were only three more. They looked baffled at one another, and not long after another one was swallowed by a moving darkness. Zed saw that his attackers started to panic. One who was in front of him before he turned around, now was completely gone. He turned his head again to look at the remaining ninjas but as he looked past them in the darkness, he held his breath.

Brown hair flowing gracefully and white eyes were looking at the ninjas in front of her. Zed's eyes widened, filled with surprise and uncertainity. He was having visions, he told himself, in an attempt to grasp what he was seeing. She was dead, wasn't she? Taking good a second look, he saw blonde braided hair and brown eyes looking at him expectantly. When he gave a slight nod that went unnoticed by the ninjas, Yukine wasted no time and jumped from her hideout in the dark. She brought her staff to strike one ninja across his head hard, rendering him unconscious, and when the other attempted to hit her, she jumped a few feet back and gave her staff a small twirl before repeating the process. This one's head snapped at ninety degrees, his neck broken. When she looked at Zed, the other two were laying in a pool of blood, deep gashes in their backs.

While she tried to make her way trough the blood and corpses Zed was soon to voice his thoughts.

''How did you know?'' he asked her, and she looked blankly at him.

''About this?'' she said while gesturing towards the corpses. ''I had no idea.''. She took a small pause before continuing. ''You said you should be back before sundown. As you see, it's long time past your curfew.'' she amusedly said, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

''Well, I guess I should be grateful you came after me.'' he said while Yukine just nodded. She saw he was a little off, something was bothering him deeply.

''Hey, what's wrong?'' she questioned, revealing her face. She approached him, as he turned his eyes towards her and he froze. Tilting her head to the side, her look confused, she continued to look at him. ''What happened?'' she inquired one more time, and saw his widened irises behind his mask.

There was only silence between the two, as the moon slowly and shyly made its way from behind the cover of the dark clouds. A gush of wind swiftly blew by them, rattling Yukino's hair and cape. She closed her eyes against the harsh breath of the wind, and opened them once more after it slowly settled down. By that time, the moon's light shone upon them and it was only then when she felt time stopped.

Her eyes weren't covered in blonde strands of hair, obscuring her vision. No, they were as brown as they could be, the chocolate-ish shade as natural as always. Her own eyes widened behind the strands of hair, and her heart went into an unnatural pace of beating.

Her breathing was slow, and fear and terror were the only emotions she could feel. Before the one man she did not want to see her like this, the spell that was **bound **to hold for another few days failed, and her true identity was revealed.

She was afraid to move, her body was frozen solid in place. Her head bowed slightly, so her eyes would be covered by the messy bangs completely. Her arms were hugging her body tightly under her cape and she did not dare to make any other move. Her eyes were averted towards the ground, not daring to look up. This was a very tight spot she found herself in, and she didn't wanted to know how it will end.

She picked up the soft footsteps in front of her and her body tensed even more as she closed her eyes. Zed stopped in front of her and she was still frozen in place, her fear knowing new heights. A hand went under her chin and slowly raised her head, and she felt the moon's light down on her from behind her closed lids. A hand just as gentle as the one that raised her head brushed the brownish bangs from her eyes and she slowly opened her them.

Zed's crimson irises looked at her own from behind his mask, and she could presume they had a slight softness in them. In the same time they were confused, as if questioning her very existence.

''You're alive...'' he whispered to her, and it was her turn to be confused.

''It surprises you?'' she questioned, her tone low and curious, albeit there was an edge of anger in them. She had not forgotten what her sister had said a few years prior. She hadn't.

''Zayenn told me you were dead.'' he explained, and she couldn't miss that tone when he said 'dead'. She sighed.

''Well, it was a close call but somehow I survived.'' She really didn't wanted to mention what had actually happened. Suddenly Zed let go of her chin, and his irises send her a very angered glare. She gulped unconsciously, wondering just what had suddenly changed his mood like that.

''What are you doing here?'' he questioned, his anger obvious in his voice.

''Care to elaborate?'' she responded, although her tone was unsure. His eyes narrowed in dangerous slits.

''Don't play the fool on me Akyo. You know very well what I'm talking about. What are you doing in my order?'' he questioned again and Akyo avoided his gaze. He continued to look at her, refusing to meet his eyes. It was then when it dawned onto him, and the realization hurt a lot more than it should have had. ''You're a spy.'' he noted simply and Akyo kept her gaze on the ground.

''What if I am?'' she inquired, as her eyes turned to look into his. ''With what does it affect you?''

Zed let a small growl escape his throat. ''It disappoints me to know that the one person I trusted the most can so easily betray me.'' he explained and he didn't missed the spark in her eyes.

''Look who's talking about betrayal!'' she shot back, her tone a lot more venomous than her words. ''You might have forgotten what happened years ago Zed, but I didn't.'' she continued, her own eyes narrowing as he approached her and glared her down.

''Care to help me remember, it seems I have a short memory.'' he said sarcastically, his glare just as hot as Akyo's. She didn't backed down, and let a very small growl escape her lips.

''You've forgotten how easily you've turned your back onto me after you've opened the box?'' she asked, a painful tug in her chest. ''I have tired and tried and tried but to no avail. To keep you away from it, from corrupting you and clouding your judgment. I didn't wanted to lose you, but it seems you were very fine with leaving me alone.'' she continued, tears at the back of her eyes. She forced them back.

Zed scoffed. ''I was the one who left you alone?'' he asked her, and for a second she looked confused. ''After the trial, you were the one who turned its back to me. You were always right behind master, never leaving his side, acting like his watch dog just like Shen. Not even one moment after that trial have you come to see me again. You simply discarded me like some sort of useless object, after its role has been fulfilled.'' he explained, and her eyes widened slightly.

She couldn't deny it, after the trial, she was thrown into a whole new world. Good bye the almost all the time free days and careless thoughts. It was true, for the time period between her trial and his expulsion from the order, Akyo completely had forgotten about him. She felt guilt pulling at her heart, but yet, she was still angry, and who was there to lash out at other than him?

''That gave you no excuse for what you did three years ago!'' she retorted, her eyes glazing with tears. ''You invaded the order, and killed hundreds of people. I still wonder, if I am your most trusted person, then why would you have sent Zayenn to get my head?!'' she asked angrily, the painful memories and deep bleeding scars resurfacing from their imprisonment in her heart. She felt the warm wetness of tears on her cheeks and bowed her head again, not letting him see her cry.

Zed was silent, and mostly confused for his part. ''I did what?'' he asked, his tone filled with confusion.

Akyo sobbed silently. ''Back that day when you invaded the Order, while we were retreating and I assisted the others, Zayenn found me. She told me you were the one who condemned me to death, and that she's going to fulfill that order.'' she explained, her tone a lot calmer than it should have been.

''So that's what she told you?'' she heard him ask, and she looked confusedly at him. She asked him with her eyes, and saw the calm stare in his irises.

''What... do you mean?'' she asked, her eyes filled with uncertainty, as she tried to keep her tone angry, but it came out more like a dejected one. Zed sighed and looked at her.

''I told her to not lay a finger on you. What I told her to do was to persuade you into joining us, The Shadow Order. The last person I wanted to die there from all of those fools was you. When she returned to me, she told me you responded negative to all of her persuasion and were the one who attacked her, and she killed you in order to live.'' he finished and her mouth fell slightly.

''S-She could have lied for all you know...'' she said softly, averting her eyes to the side, refusing to meet his calm gaze.

''She could, had she not brought me 'proof'...'' he said, and started looking for something in his armor. Akyo looked at him curiously for a moment, before her eyes widened at the object in his hands.

'It can't be...' she said, one hand going involuntary to her neck while her eyes were glued to the object in Zed's hands.

''It's... Mother's...'' she said softly, as one of her hands went to touch the silky material of the necklace. Her fingertips brushed against the precious white stone crested with a stylized crimson 'S'. ''Why...?'' she asked, although her eyes were still glued to the object.

''The last memory I could salvage of you... Since I never thought I'll ever see you alive and breathing again.'' he explained, as he reflected on what happened in the past few moments. He had involuntarily let out more emotion than he usually did, but it didn't particularly bother him. She was the only one he ever showed his emotions in front of anyway.

''I'm sorry,'' she whispered as she kept her eyes on the necklace, but there were tears on her cheeks, although her face was impassive. ''for everything that happened. For the entire grudge I ever had against you, I'm sorry.'' she apologized, as she closed her eyes and sighed silently.

He was silent, and she opened her eyes to look up and him. She saw he had a hard time forming the words in his mind, that's how he had always been anyway. Never the one with good apologies. But she saw in his eyes, that he was going to apologize too. Smiling up to him, she put one hand on his chest to make him focus on her.

''I know.'' she answered simply, and it seemed he looked very relieved. He sighed heavily as he started wiping the tears away from her cheeks.

''Tch, cry baby.'' he muttered under his breath and she chuckled silently. All of the sudden, it seemed everything has gone to normal once more. Back to the days when they were kids.

''What are you going to do from now on?'' he asked her and she realized that now, her mission was kind of screwed. She sighed and brought a hand to massage her aching head.

''I'll have to return to the Order since my disguise is blown up.'' she explained. ''But, you don't have to worry. Your secrets are safe with me.'' she hurried to say and observed the amused stare in his eyes.

''I know.'' he said slowly, his tone very wise, mimicking her own from before. She frowned slightly, before she put her hood on her head and took a few steps back.

''Well, I hope next time we meet it won't be like this.'' she said, motioning with her hand towards the dead ninjas. Zed looked questioningly at her and she smiled mysteriously at him. ''We'll meet sooner than you think, trust me.'' she turned around to leave, but Zed stopped her.

''Remember,'' he called from over his shoulder, as he looked at her dead in the eye. ''You may be my rival now, but my true enemy is your Order.'' he took a pause before he spoke again. ''I have not changed my mind Akyo. You still have a chance to join me.'' he finished as he disappeared into the shadows. Akyo took one last glance at the place before she turned around and disappeared just as swiftly.

~(o-o)~

Months later, in the Institute of War, a merry and happily atmosphere surrounded the entire building. Everywhere you looked, decorations in red, white and green covered all of the Institute's halls and rooms. Small blinking lights were also sparkling softly here and there, and the beautiful decorations made out of never melting ice gave the place an elegant and Freljordian air.

It was the night of the Snow Down, the party that had started not long ago, going on at a high pace, every champion and summoner and even some civilians, having the time of their lives, celebrating another year that was going away.

The moon was high into the skies, shinning brightly like a pearl onto a never ending, soft blanket of satin. With small diamonds shinning softly in its pale light next to it, the empty fields, devoid of snow, seemed out of place.

It seemed a northern current from Freljord, which would usually bring a three months snow upon the Institute every year around this time, was coming up late. But it didn't bothered Akyo, since it was still somehow warm outside, and she could enjoy the slight silence she had at the respective balcony now.

She had barely got out of that party, since it really wasn't something she enjoyed. She simply wanted to stay and listen to the Maven of the Strings play her beautiful etwhal and enjoy the hypnotizing music it gave off. After that, everything went towards a full party, accompanied by hardcore notes from Pentakill.

The chill air send some shivers down her spine, since she was still wearing that damned outfit Kaleyn had given her. It had been a total pain to work with it, she even had to punch two or three male champions in the face to make herself clear.

She really didn't understood how a revealing mini dress with stockings and high heels had any connection whatsoever with the season, but she was wearing it now, so what was the point in complaining anymore.

She let out a soft puff of air, as her crossed arms rested on the edge of the balcony. She kept her eyes trained on the sky, as her mind drifted from one thought to the other.

She suddenly heard something behind her, like soft muffled sounds. She tensed and stopped her thinking, and listened carefully. It wasn't long before she heard an amused scoff and clear steps.

''Well, that's the last of things I expected you to wear.'' she heard a very familiar voice, one she thought she would never hear again. Turning her head around, she saw Zed approaching her, and his mask was gone from some unknown reason.

Quickly rising to a normal standing position, she couldn't help but inquire him about his mask. His armor was gone as well, as he looked extremely casually dressed.

''Everybody's busy with partying, and who's not there is either sleeping under a table or gone somewhere else.'' he explained, as he leaned on the edge of the balcony. She raised an eyebrow at his casualty but rolled her eyes and raised them to look back at the sky.

''But what's your excuse?'' he suddenly asked. She returned her attention to him, as he eyes her very amusedly. ''I must admit it's the most pleasant of surprises seeing you dressed like this.''

Akyo looked confusedly at him for a moment before she remembered what she was wearing. A fierce red covered her cheeks as she averted her eyes and refused to let him look at her face.

''High Summoner made me wear this. To 'keep the people entertained'.'' she explained, her tone lanced with venom while her eyes were burning holes into a wall. ''I'm pretty sure I entertained all the male part of the League...'' she trailed off and Zed raised an eyebrow.

''I'm surprised some weren't idiots enough to approach you.'' he noted and she 'humph'-ed amusedly, a defiant smirk appearing on her face.

''Oh but there were. I'm pretty sure Draven will have the bandage removed from his nose in a week or so, Jayce will probably still have a black eye when we begin the next season, Gragas probably still has a headache that's got nothing to do with too much alcohol and...'' she suddenly trailed off, her eyes lowering to the ground.

Zed raised an eyebrow again and narrowed his eyes. ''And your little friend Ryo?'' he asked, his tone having an edge of annoyance and promise of death. She sighed silently.

''You can draw your own conclusions. I'm glad he's smart enough to listen to me at least...'' she said looking sideways, as an uneasy silence fell upon the two.

Then, a harsh breath of wind blew, as Akyo hugged her body in an attempt to not feel the cold biting at her exposed skin. Her long hair which was untied and fell in graceful waves down her back, rattled along with the wind.

Zed looked at her for a moment, and he couldn't help the feeling of pity. He was pretty sure he was going to probably regret the decision he will make, but he unzipped his very comfy and warm hoodie and let it drop on her bare and cold shoulders.

She blinked her eyes open at the sudden warmth, and pulled the material closer around her freezing from. She looked at the soft fabric kept safely in her fingers and raised her eyes to look at Zed. He avoided her gaze. She saw he was only wearing a simple shirt, and he was probably cold now. His hoodie was really big around her form, it enveloped her completely, and another one around her dimensions could fit easily. Just how big the gap between the two of them was.

''You're going to be cold now.'' she noted simply and he scoffed.

''I can handle it better than you.'' he retorted. She deadpanned.

'' Yeah, and you're a pain when you catch a cold.'' she said back, as he kept his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes looking sideways. He was about to say something back, when he felt a warmth spread across his shoulders again. Akyo had returned the material back to him, and before he could even argue about it, she did the most unimaginable things.

She hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest and keeping her arms close to her face. He couldn't see her eyes but he was surprised.

''That way, neither of us will be cold anymore.'' She sort of explained, more of an embarrassed mumble if he could say.

In return he hugged her small body closer to his, and even let his hands wander trough the long strands of her chocolate hair. It seemed she was content with drawing circles with her finger on his chest, so he concluded she won't be bothered either.

They sat like that for a few moments, and it didn't felt awkward. It was comforting, something that both needed, and it was very welcome by both sides. Zed kept staring at her absent mindedly, before something popped up in his mind. He wondered whether this was the good time to do it or not, but he had waited long enough.

Slowly letting her go and keeping her at arms distance, he didn't miss the pout on her face at the absence of warmth. He raised an eyebrow.

''I've got something for you.'' he explained, and saw her eyes fill with curiosity. He searched in the pockets of his pants until he found what he was looking for. ''I'll need you to close your eyes.''

At this, she dead panned, shooting him a look. He sighed. ''It's a surprise, just play along.''

She obeyed and closed her eyes. Waiting and waiting, she wondered just what surprise it could be. She felt him move behind her and then, something warm envelope around her neck. Without opening her eyes, she brought her fingers up and gasped when she felt a smooth round stone along with a silky necklace.

Zed finished locking the necklace in place when she opened her eyes looked at him curiously. ''You forgot to take it back after we met in the woods some months ago. I've been meaning to give it back, but...'' couldn't find the right moment, he continued in his head and she glanced down.

She smiled to herself, it was sweet from him to do such a thing. But now, she felt like she wanted to give him something back, but she practically had nothing right now. Looking up, she observed he looked sideways, refusing to meet her eyes. She smiled again and approached him, and slightly rose on her tiptoes with the intent on placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

But right in that moment, it seemed Zed had found to courage to look at her again, and their lips were millimeters apart when he turned his head. Both froze in place, stopped in time, as their eyes widened in unison in surprise.

Akyo for her part, felt like she should back down. She really didn't wanted to ruin what little friendship she had formed back with Zed after all these years. She was ready to give him back his personal space and apologize when he took her aback.

Closing the space between the two, Zed simply refused to let go of her. Akyo's heart went into erratic beats, a river of emotions washing over her. His lips were softly locked onto hers and he didn't seemed like he was going to let go any soon.

While the confusion was still fresh and strong, she closed her eyes and melted into the warm embrace he was offering her. Her hands encircled his neck and brought him close, while his limbs snaked around her waist, making sure she wasn't going anywhere.

There were a lot of things that could be put into one kiss. Emotions that varied from hurt to happiness, love, passion, bottled up feelings that could no longer be contained. His lips moved across her own, as she let him take lead of this dance. One of his hands went up at the back of her head, angling it so it would let him deepen the kiss even more. Akyo didn't complained, and obeyed, as she felt like she could never be close enough.

When the demand of oxygen was too big to resist, they parted, one breathing heavily like the other. It the mean time, it seemed it had finally started to snow, small and soft snowflakes falling down onto the embraced pair.

One of those snowflakes fell right on Akyo's nose, as she crossed her eyes and glared slightly at the little piece of ice. Zed chuckled and her attention was back to him, and she couldn't help the inward smile when he saw just how relaxed he looked. He smirked at her, it was that kind of smirk it made her heart skip beats when she was young. In the same time, he pulled her even closer, and she couldn't help the blush that colored her face. Yet, she couldn't complain, she would never let go of him ever again.

It was true when she was told, that Snow Down is a season of miracles.

**AN: TADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. No, I'm not dead. School is being hard in my head, that's all. I haven't abandoned TiLiD, it's just that my inspiration comes harder when I've got anorganic chemistry and annoying biology to learn but whatevs. THIS is dedicated mainly to little flower, who gave me the idea of Akyo being discovered when she was a spy. Here's the fruit of your creation my dear.**

**I promise I will update TiLiD soon, since I got to write some things here and there. Summer vacation is coming, so things will go back to normal again.**

**Its kind of late, so I'm signing off for now. Still taking requests, do not forget.**

**Until next time~! :3**


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